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Brian Smith is city editor and a reporter for the Peninsula Clarion. He covers local government, health, energy and environment.
He drove the AlCan from Colorado, where he grew up. He graduated from Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colo., in 2009 with a degree in mass communications. He started his career at the Craig Daily Press in Craig, Colo., where he covered government, environment and courts. He previously interned with his hometown newspaper, the Longmont Times-Call in Longmont, Colo., and was the editor of The Criterion, Mesa State’s student newspaper.
He previously worked as a charter boat deckhand out of Seward for two summers during college. Now he fly fishes but rarely catches, will burn a tank of gas aurora-chasing and is learning to appreciate the Alaska way.
Find him here: www.facebook.com/briansmitty

A Sterling Highway crash that caused minor injuries forced Alaska State Troopers to reroute traffic through Robinson Loop Road for about two hours Friday starting about 5 p.m.

Rebecca McGrane, 35, of Soldotna lost control of her Ford Bronco as she was driving southbound on the highway and slid sideways across the northbound lane and into the path of a GMC Yukon driven by Robert Bauder, 60, of Soldotna near mile 87 of the highway.

According to unofficial results released by the state elections office Wednesday, voters in Kenai Peninsula districts favored Republican Gov. Mitt Romney over President Barack Obama.

Across Districts 28, 29 and 30, 66 percent of voters chose Romney with 29 percent voting for Obama and 5 percent cast a vote for another candidate or wrote in a candidate. It total, 11,338 voters cast a ballot supporting Romney, who lost the nation’s vote to Obama, who received 5,015 votes in the area.

During his first year on the job, Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre has sought to walk a middle road as the borough’s chief administrator by relying on communications and negotiations, playing politics close to the chest and promoting his desire to be seen as a brainstormer and collector of expert opinions.

Navarre has navigated several borough controversies and mitigated disasters including damaging wind storms, record snowfalls, one of the poorest returns of king salmon in recent memory and major flooding of Seward, the Kenai River and other portions of the Peninsula.

A day in the life of Brett Reid starts with a cacophony of meows and woofs from those wriggling bundles of life in their respective cages, announcing for all to hear they are happy to be warm and alive.

Reid, unaffected by the clatter, makes sure he has his bright yellow earmuffs secured and a fresh pot of coffee brewed before tackling the four or more hours of work needed to meet the day at the Kenai Animal Shelter.

Kenai Peninsula voters will cast a ballot for three, uncontested local seats in the Alaska Legislature during Tuesday’s general election.

Incumbent Republican House candidates Kurt Olson and Mike Chenault will join Republican Senate candidate and current Soldotna Mayor Peter Micciche in the contest for seats in a legislative session likely to be dominated by discussions of oil taxes, gas pipelines and annual budget wrestling.

Olson and Micciche won close races during August’s Republican primary to advance to the general election, while Chenault faced no challengers.

After a summer of pricey upgrades, the future of the Drift River oil storage facility rests in the hands of state officials who are expected to make a final decision on Hilcorp Alaska’s amended oil spill and contingency plan for the facility within the week.

The plan, otherwise known as a C-Plan, is a critical piece of the puzzle that, if approved, would allow Hilcorp to utilize the facility as it hoped when it purchased the asset — located near the base of Mount Redoubt, an active volcano — to accommodate its desired increases in Cook Inlet oil production.

Recently, several locals shared their thoughts on animal control issues on the Peninsula with us, advocating for some sort of effort to address a spreading problem.

As the human population of the area grows and spreads into the rural areas, so does the population of animals and pets like horses, goats, dogs, cats and others, increasing the likelihood of animal abuse or neglect.

As the Kenai River flows and the gallery of guides comes and goes, Gary McFadden remains.

The 62-year-old trout and salmon guide has been guiding on the Peninsula’s most famous river as long as some guides are old and has been a permanent fixture in the constantly changing fishing community.

If you’re a trout, chances are you’ve either seen McFadden’s iconic beard and hat full of hot glue and artifacts gazing down at you from the end of a rod or net or heard of his fishing prowess.

Central Peninsula Hospital will soon survey area residents on what health services they feel are needed in the area to help shape how the hospital grows and works in the community, officials said.

The University of New England’s Center for Health Policy, Planning and Research will be polling 600 randomly-selected area households for the survey, according to information provided by the hospital. Mail surveys started hitting mailboxes Friday and phone surveys will begin on Nov. 2.